E-invoicing 2026: the obligation card shops must prepare for

France's business-to-business e-invoicing reform is coming. For a shop selling Pokémon, Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, it changes nothing about over-the-counter sales. But as soon as you invoice another business (a wholesaler, another reseller, a club buying sealed product on an invoice), the rules shift. The timeline is set, and the first deadlines land in 2026. Better to understand now what applies to you than to discover the topic the day before.

The timeline in two dates

The reform rolls out in two stages, depending on whether you receive or issue invoices between businesses.

• 1 September 2026: every VAT-liable business must be able to RECEIVE electronic invoices. This applies even to those under the VAT exemption scheme (franchise en base).
• 1 September 2027: very small businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises must in turn ISSUE their invoices in electronic format.

In other words: in 2026 the goal is to be ready to receive. In 2027 you will need to be able to issue. Most card shops are small structures, so both deadlines concern you.

B2B and B2C: don't mix them up

Electronic invoicing concerns exchanges between businesses (B2B). That is the case when you invoice another company. Your counter sales to private customers (B2C) do not fall under business-to-business e-invoicing: they go through what is called e-reporting, which is a separate topic.

In practice, the receipt you hand to a customer buying a booster stays a receipt. The reform mainly targets your transactions between professionals: purchases from a supplier, resales to another retailer, services invoiced to a company.

Approved platform and the Factur-X format

An important point: the former free public transmission portal (the PPF) has been dropped. Electronic invoices will be transmitted through an Approved Platform, often referred to by its French acronym PA. It is the platform that moves the invoice between you and your business customer.

The standard format chosen is Factur-X. It is a file combining a human-readable PDF and machine-readable structured data. For you, the idea is simple: the invoice still looks like a regular PDF, but it also carries the information that software and the tax authorities can process automatically.

What a shop can do right now

There is no need to finalise everything today. But a few habits will let you approach 2026 calmly.

• Map your B2B flows: which businesses do you invoice, and how often?
• Check that your management tool can, or will be able to, generate invoices in Factur-X format.
• Look into approved platforms and their pricing; some are tied to your bank or your accounting software.
• Plan for receiving as early as 2026, even if you invoice little B2B: you must at least be able to receive an electronic invoice from a supplier.

On the software side, Echo TCG is preparing Factur-X invoice generation, so that a shop's B2B invoicing fits into the same workflow as the till and the stock.

In short: 2026 to receive, 2027 to issue, an approved platform to transmit, and Factur-X as the format. The subject sounds technical, but for a card shop the essentials come down to a few things: identify your business-to-business invoices and make sure your tool keeps up. Taking the time now saves you from scrambling later.

This article is informational and does not replace the advice of a chartered accountant or a lawyer.